Our family's adventures in cooking,
crafting, and enjoying each other.

Monday, January 24, 2011

A Fresh Look for Hannah's High Chair

Maybe it's because of my Southwestern roots, but I really think oilcloth is cool. Not just kind of cool, but I get all excited about oilcloth the way some people get excited about really nice fabric like silk or...uh... other fancy fabrics I don't know the names of. I bought this cheerful orange-on-blue oilcloth when we lived in Albuquerque - long before I knew to appreciate the practicality of having table accessories that could be wiped clean without going through the washer. I made a set of four place mats, which we have enjoyed greatly over the years. (As a happy aside, I learned that the mildew that ruined my forgotten wet napkins simply wiped off the oilcloth.) I also cut an apron that I never got around to sewing. And I had some nice, big scraps left over for some unforeseen oilcloth coolness.

Then along came the third member of our family, and her really wonderful high chair, which all of us have greatly enjoyed over the last two years. But lately, the cheap plastic cover on the cushion has been getting rattier and rattier until I think it's actually distracting Hannah from eating. At first, the foam cushion was just peeking out in places, but lately, it's just about to abandon ship altogether as the plastic has no hold on the foam whatsoever. So out came those nice oilcloth scraps, ready to save the day.

Let me say, I am not one of those neat people who wipes down the high chair after every meal. Rather, if someone is coming to our house to share a meal which will be eaten at the table, minutes before they arrive, you can find me scrubbing weeks worth of applesauce and dried peas from the chair. (Even though I cleaned the thing up for the photo shoot, please don't look too closely!) This lack of effort also shows on the exposed edge of the foam, so please don't look too closely at that either...

I started by throwing away that old plastic, no-good cover, and tracing around the foam cushion on the wrong side of the oilcloth. Then I added a 1/4 inch seam allowance, and cut two pieces.

Next, I busted out my rotary cutter to make long strips for the edges of the cushion. The next part was quite the deal. Having never made this sort of thing before, it took a bit of trial and error, and three chocolate chip cookies to figure out what was going on. Alas, there are no pictures of my moments of frustration...

...but here's the cushion when it's done. It turned out a little caddywompus, but at least it has that wonderful oilcloth on it instead of broken white plastic oozing with dingy foam. Hannah was very happy to see the addition to her chair, especially since she is currently obsessed with eating oranges. I can't wait until she's old enough to appreciate the awesomeness of the actual oilcloth!